Seachem Stability Doing Anything?

Hey guys I had a question about seachem stability .

I recently got a 36 gallon bow front tank. It has 2 mollys and 10 small guppies.

I’ve been adding my prime and stability(today is a week). When I do all my water testing I still get 0’s across the board. Does this mean the stability isn’t really doing anything since there isn’t any ammonia in the tank to feed the B.B. ?

 

How are you testing?

Do you have a lot of plants in the tank?

How long have you had the fish in there?

There definitely is ammonia in the tank, as you have fish in there.

 

I’m testing with the apI freshwater master test kit.
No plants right now , but I intend to add them.

Tank was set up last Saturday and fish were added Monday so today makes a week.

I have the aquoen quite flow 30 and a air pump with a sponge filter for extra filtration.

 

I’m testing with the apI freshwater master test kit.
No plants right now , but I intend to add them.

Tank was set up last Saturday and fish were added Monday so today makes a week.

I have the aquoen quite flow 30 and a air pump with a sponge filter for extra filtration.

Nitrate bottle #2 shake for 30 seconds before adding it correct?

 

More than just shaking - I'd bang it on a hard surface a few times.

 

Yup I have a 10 gallon and I use the same kit and it reads everything perfect

 

If your adding prime everyday, you may not be getting the right results. Wait until 24-48 hours before testing anything, if the results are the same then I guess you have pristine waters.

 

So when I got home today I had
.25 ammonia
0 nitrite
0 nitrate

 

You don't add both prime and stability, just stability. Prime is to dechlorinate tap water for water changes.

 

Nope only add stability for the first 7 days it says. Today was the 7th day.

I only added prime the first day when I filled up
The tank

 

Looks like an increase in dose and maybe double it all week. 38gal I would dose 40ml. Daily. I double does a tank once got it running smooth in two to 3 weeks with a similar set up to yours.

 

Ok great I will try that

 

Ammonia and nitrites are toxic to fish. Prime will temporarily bind them for 24 to 48 hrs. As long as you have either, you should be daily dosing prime.
Some people have said their fish survive without prime during cycling, but if it didn't kill them, it likely shortened their lifespan.

 

Ya that’s what I had also read up on . And the prime won’t stall your cycle because it only binds the ammonia

 

I have heard that when you are cycling you should be careful with dosing Prime! ... The bacteria culture that eats ammonia needs the ammonia ... and if you are taking away their food they will starve and that will stall the cycle!

I'm not very experienced, but I have heard that in many places and it seems quite logical

 

I have heard that when you are cycling you should be careful with dosing Prime! ... The bacteria culture that eats ammonia needs the ammonia ... and if you are taking away their food they will starve and that will stall the cycle!

I'm not very experienced, but I have heard that in many places and it seems quite logical

So don't follow the instructions on prime then?

 

Hard to say because Prime does bind ammonia to ammonium and they (Seachem) claim that BB can process it but some have had issues. Bottled bacteria like TSS+ is well known to have issues so it's highly recommended to wait at least 24h after using Prime to dose TSS+. Stability is supposed to work with Prime but some have noticed it doesn't work as well. There are many variables though so you should take all of this with a grain of salt.

One thing to note when using any bacteria in a bottle is that you need to shake it really, really, really well.